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"Business Web sites ineffective"
That's a headline, y'all, from an Orlando Sentinel article I found in the Sunday Albuquerque Journal. Needless to say, I thought this was something I should read. It turns out the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), a small-business lobby in Washington, D.C., is going to release the results of two surveys on Sept. 4, one on Internet use by small businesses and the other on employee recruitment. So far so good.

The findings about recruitment may surprise you: according to the responses from over 750 business owners this past spring, "a worker shortage persists." The economy may have caught a cold, but for one reason or another, we're in the midst of a labor shortage. Go figure.

Maybe the workers aren't where the work is, or maybe the work is where nobody lives. Maybe no one can read, write, or talk properly -- maybe the education system has failed us, in other words. I certainly don't know. I've always been one of those very impractical people who try to do what they want to do instead of what they should do (supposedly).

Well gee whiz
But oh boy, the Internet use survey... this is the kind of thing to make you sit up and take notice. I'll just list a few of the findings:

• 57 percent of business owners are using the Internet. That's right, 43 percent still don't have anything to do with it, not even email.
• The most common uses of the Internet among those who do take advantage of it are emailing, buying products, and researching business information.
• Of the Internet-using businesses, only 35 percent have Web sites. But it gets worse:
• 89 percent of businesses with Web sites reported no increased profit, 73 percent reported no rise improvement in sales, and 43 percent claimed the site had not brought in new customers.

Well now. Admittedly, most of the above-mentioned business Web sites were not, I repeat NOT, selling products from their Web sites. Unfortunately, the article left unanswered the question of whether the 11 percent who did see increased profits were among the minority with online stores of some kind.(You would think this might be the case, but how would you know?) At this point, I'm wondering what the intended point of this survey is, anyway.

Perhaps it's that many business owners have Web sites but don't really know why. These "dangling appendages" Web sites aren't doing the businesses any good, obviously. Here's a relevant quotation:

"Entrepeneurs try to stay abreast of technology, this poll suggests, but many do not use it effectively or incorporate it into an overall business strategy."

I think there's another spin to this: if only 11 percent of 35 percent of 57 percent of small business owners see increased profits because of having a Web site -- and only 35 percent of 57 percent have Web sites in the first place, then the native intelligence quotient of this occupational segment is extraordinarily high...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Why does anyone want a Web site? And I'm not talking about big corporate ventures -- I mean everybody else. What's the point? I know why I have one (ZOOZONE.COM), mostly because I can... Because it's always been fun to mess with. So friends and others can come to one particular place and read some of my writings. Because I'm an artist and I like to play with colors and photos and stuff. Because it's like having my own bulletin board in cyberspace. Because (again) it's FUN, frankly.

But that NFIB survey does point out some things Web designers should take note of. And as one of my Web producer friends was ruminating the other day, the dot-com implosion is still underway, flooding the job markets with hordes of exceptionally well-qualified Web jockeys, IT people, and high-zoot techies of every description -- and she's seriously considering leaving the field and going back to being a photographer and Photoshop whiz! Given that all these folks need work and that not everyone in the world wants a Web site or even gives a damn about the Internet at all, well, I'd say that Web designers' job security is going to be wearing mighty thin. Besides, 6th graders can do this stuff now. Yes, there will always be work for those of you who can keep up with the latest technology and handle big corporate clients. But building Web sites for Ma and Pa Kettle may be fading into the background as a day job choice.

I dunno. Here I am about to help a small-town alternative/political/literary monthly newspaper try to do something constructive with its Web site in return for free office space and my own ISDN line. I'm asking myself if there's something DIFFERENT to be done with the site, something fun and useful. Otherwise, why bother? In the weeks to come, I'll have periodic progress reports and some photos of my new work space.

And that's it for now. It is Labor Day, after all.

Senior Applelinks editor and columnist John H. Farr thinks two or three alternative lines of work would be a great idea . He wouldn't mind reading your comments as well.

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AUDIO CREDIT: embedded 44k file, European Birds -- Sounds and Sonograms.

DESIGN CREDIT: GRACK! byline graphic by Bob Farr.

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